Reads like a rebel manifesto if I ever saw one. Admiral Ackbar would be proud. But enough with the memetics. Today, I wish to talk about what everyone else is talking about - the war raging across the intertubes. On one side, you have a whistleblower website that is eclipsed by the sheer magnitude of support for its publicist (and supposed founder). On the other, you have governments - ones gasping for breath in the deluge that was a leak of diplomatic cables - with one in particular devoting a minute to irony by celebrating 'World Press Freedom Day' as it struggles to heal the damage wrought by the disclosures. And what is truly fascinating is the proxy war (no pun intended) that began between spineless corporations and internet vigilantes.
(News report begin)
The push began with a 'hacker' (excuse me if I snigger) supposedly taking whistleblower site Wikileaks down by what is becoming the most popular method of protest - a DDoS attack. A Distributed Denial of Service attack disables a website by overloading it with requests. Simple, and effective. With the initial spurt of DDoS's piling, Wikileaks decided to move to a much stronger server cloud - one controlled by online retail giant Amazon. Due to alleged U.S. government pressure, Amazon decided to kick Wikileaks off the cloud, setting the precedent that would be followed by EveryDNS, the next site to host Wikileaks. While Wikileaks struggled to keep the primary website online with DDoS attacks rolling in from all directions, donations were thrust into a bottleneck with the withdrawal of services by Paypal, Visa and MasterCard. The U.S.A. is usually an international police of sorts but when it turned into the playground bully, the war began. Enter Anonymous.
(News report end. Tune in next week for more serious buttkicking)
Anonymous has been in the news numerous times in the past. From unleashing the rage of the hive-mind on abusive adolescent girls to tracking down boys indulging in animal cruelty, Anon, had made a name for itself as the uncontrolled, uncontrollable vigilante of the internet and decided that now would be a good time to start a fight. Honestly, I couldn't agree more. On a related note, I am completely in love with the internet today.
However, all this anarchy and call for rebellion, as much as I love it, isn't my focus. The attacks on PayPal, Visa, MasterCard and now, Amazon, may be justified. But that isn't what grabs my attention. What I find interesting here is the way everyone is reacting to our first World Wide Web War.
When the hacker 'The Jester' came up saying he pulled down Wikileaks, the first redneck reactions called him a patriotic 'MERICAN. What followed is what caught my attention. After his supposed attacks, many more followed. This could be attributed to TJ being a true blue patriot but the fact was that it wasn't him. Rather, it wasn't just him. Many more hackers, self proclaimed saviors, helped in bringing Wikileaks down. The part that I find interesting is that this Jester character need not exist. In short, we have a Stand Alone Complex in place. For those unfamiliar with the concept, I quote from the Wikipedia article on the idea of a Stand Alone Complex:
"A mere fire, no matter the number of deaths, is just a garden variety tragedy. However, if the right kind of people begin to believe it was arson, caused by deliberate action, the threat that more arsons will be committed increases drastically."
If you read the article (click here), you will understand the correlation much better. The striking similarities almost make the current DDoS attack scenario look like an example of the complex. What makes this an even more interesting read is the way the response to The Jester's message appeared. Anonymous vowed to take down the websites mentioned earlier (and a bank, PostFinance, that shut down Julian Assange's account fell as collateral damage). The thing is, most Anonymous attacks follow the same pattern. Starting with a message by one of their legion, the attacks set a date and time for attacking a target. Most of these attacks succeed in overwhelming their targets. The driving force for participating in the 'raids' is the same as in the Stand Alone Complex - information that others are doing it. As thousands voluntarily join a botnet and use software for carrying out the DDoS attack, we see the force come into play. Given the nature of Anonymous, as a body with no shape or motive for the most part, it is impossible to deny the effect of the complex in operation here. A simple message created by an Anon is all it takes to rally the forces. One might argue that this could be a genuine call to arms - and in all probability, it is - but given that no member of Anonymous is different from the other, and given that no member is more a leader than another, the anonymity ensures that the Stand Alone Complex is always at play.
And this is what I find fascinating. This copycat behavior that has come to define a form of protest. People who owed no allegiance to either side in the past take up arms now on seeing others go at it. Maybe being a part of a large group that is gaining worldwide attention is a driving factor. Maybe it is the thrill of throwing open your window and screaming that you're mad as hell and that you aren't going to take it any more. Whichever plays a dominant role, the protest has started a war on the intertubes.
I haven't posted in months. I wouldn't have if all this hadn't been so terribly exciting. The complex may be the work of overzealous manga writers but it describes the hivemind with exceeding accuracy. As I mentioned, I am in love with the internet today. People are up fighting, even if their knowledge of the affair is horribly limited. There is a pull that this flavor of rebellion exerts that cannot be ignored. I leave you with echoed thoughts of two dead men. A little anarchy has been introduced. And beneath this mask of anarchy is an idea - this idea cannot be touched, or held, or kissed for an idea is not flesh, but it will survive; ideas, unlike men, are bulletproof.
- Mod
